adventus mmxxv by Tomáš Niesner

Early winter morning, the air so crisp that it hurts to breathe. Dim grey light slowly turns into a new day, first snowflakes are falling onto the frozen land. That is the time for which the traditional Eastern European Advent chants – Rorate, were born. These medieval hymns dedicated to the Virgin Mary were sung during morning Advent masses, at a time when one tries to find peace and harmony before Christmas. Czech sound artist and guitarist Tomáš Niesner takes their calming, somewhat majestic atmosphere and turns it into minimalist guitar songs, adding a few traditional carols into the mix. Together they comprise the album adventus mmxxv. Niesner takes the Rorate songs from old hymn books and reimagines them for a completely different time and instrument, preserving only the core, the deepest meaning. What remains are mighty, yet soothing melodies that ground us in the unsteady world.

For the first time in his career, the Czech musician decided to create an album the analogue way and recorded the base on a four-track cassette recorder, adding only one effect in the post-processing, which lingers gently in the background. “Without visualising the sound on a monitor, you have to rely solely on your ears and intuition,” explains Tomáš his creative process. “At the same time, there isn't much room for corrections, so I learned to accept mistakes and just move on.” The album implicitly asks listeners to do the same – slow down, be at peace with the decisions we made throughout the year. It can be listened to as an Advent calendar, 25 songs for each day preceding Christmas and the holiday itself. Maybe in the morning, to warm up for the approaching day, to take a deep breath in the darkness and get ready for the light.

❊❊❊

9.1. Brno @ Kabinet Muz*
* Šimanský Niesner

niesner.tomas@gmail.com

linktr.ee
Instagram